My midwife posted a link to an article listing five hospital procedures that ruin your birth. Based on the feedback i’ve been receiving after telling friends and acquaintances of my decision to have a home birth, i’ve realized that there’s a lot of ignorance out there as to what is actually necessary, what’s helpful, and what’s simply hurtful when it comes to having babies.
I’ve been doing a lot of research – mostly because i’m a nerd, a cynic, and truly love to read – so i’ve been looking into all aspects of the pre-natal, birth, and early child raising literature to compare the opinions and theories and come up with my own. More on that journey to come!
In the meantime, I think this article touches on just a few reasons why i’m definitely not having a baby in a hospital. Now, I know that not all hospital experiences are equal, and there are certainly some doctors more committed to allowing women to have choice and a more natural experience, but from what i’ve heard that’s not the norm. In any case, having the knowledge yourself rather than simply trusting that your doctor knows what’s best is incredibly important.
If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, educate yourself! Start by reading the article linked to below:
Salt Water Mama 
Makes sense. Western medicine can do some miraculous things, but it can also take things too far, causing more harm than good sometimes. It’s really just a matter of common sense. Some doctors have more common sense than others, but ultimately it’s up to the patient (i.e. You, me, us) to know what feels right, and what’s working and what’s not.
Hi, I can´t help to comment here, not all the hospitals in all the countries are the same. I think we should fight to have natural deliveries in hospitals rather thanfor having home deliveries. My case: I had a great natural labour in the UK, for free, in a room that was pretty much like my bedroom, with a midwife and two people that I chose, I was walking around and doing what I wanted, I had ropes (which I used a lot), balls, cushions, a birthing chair and a mattress. Now that said I had a complication just after giving birth and had to be rushed to emergency room. Thankful to have been in a hospital to be honest.
I really really want to pass on this empowering reading: http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Midwifery-Ina-May-Gaskin/dp/1570671044
Beatriz
Hey Holly,
Congrats on your pregnancy! It’s an amazing time huh? And so great you’re still surfing. I surfed up until about 18 weeks and then we hit summer and there just weren’t any waves. Hopefully I can surf longer next time.
I just came across your saltmama site from watching some of your youtube vids and felt I needed to comment 🙂
I had my little boy 12 months ago and I had him at home and in water. It was one of the best and most defining decisions of my life. I don’t think it even hit me until after the birth what a profound experience it was to do it that way. I am so proud and so thankful that I came across the homebirth option and then looked into it, rather than just booking into a hospital. My hubby wasn’t too sure at first, but a few months into the pregnancy and we were both so committed to the idea. We also did a short course in hypnobirthing. ‘Hypnobirthing’ by Marie Mongan is worth a read. There is a lot of overlap with yoga, I guess, but we both found it really useful and a lot of the theory to do with feeling safe vs ‘fight or flight’ and how that has no place in labour really resonated with us.
We also came across a lot of scepticism. GPs thought I was crazy because I had an ‘untested uterus’ (until you’ve proved you can give birth naturally, well you’re just taking a big risk ;p ) and many friends and colleagues seemed to think we’d just be having a baby at home without any medical support, not understanding that the midwives are amazing, and it is part of a publicly funded government program in West Australia. We also had a back-up hospital should the need arise to transfer. Once we realised this was what people were freaking out about, it was easy to communicate that we were well supported.
Birthing at home was the best. We had a very calm birth. There was no need for internal examinations – if the baby isn’t stressed what does it matter?! – the midwife just took notes in the background, backed up my hubby with affirmations we used and let me get on with it. No tears, no stitches and my body just bounced right back.
I wish an AMAZING birth for you.
x
Hannah.
congrats holly on growing your family and embracing every part of pregnancy! interesting article… no baby monitors when i had my boys, that must have become common practice within the last 10-15 yrs… the eating part… well, just keep in mind you are doing a lot of pushing so you may not want a whole lot in your digestive tract if you know what i mean… it’s gonna feel like you’re taking the biggest dump of your life anyway, so maybe try to avoid that from really happening=0..and you don’t poop laying down so why would you lay down to push out something bigger out of a different hole?? i, like beatriz, had complications that arose very quickly with not much time to react… just like jks said, it’s about common sense and making sure you are surrounded with capable humans that know what to do in case plan B has to come in effect. ultimately, it’s about that little one coming into this world safe and sound<3… yay you!!!